LOCKPORT, N.Y. -- Known for movies like "Wet Hot American Summer" and his standup, Michael Ian Black said he's always had an interest in comedy and politics but has never been a political comedian.

However, Black has become something of a progressive champion on social media, using platforms to advocate for issues important to him.

"I don't really think of myself in those terms," he said. "They feel sort of self-limiting but anybody who follows me or knows anything about me would call me a liberal, progressive. Some have called me a communist, a term I would not apply to myself."

These days, Black is part of a program on CNN called "Have I Got News For You" that focuses on politics and current events. He speaks bluntly on the show.

"I don't care that you lied, [Rep. Mike Lawler], because I knew you would," he read in a letter to the New York Republican congressman

He also speaks bluntly during interviews.

"We're living in a fascistic hellscape," Black said.

The comedian has been a careful observer of what he said is an ever-growing political divide for more than a decade. In 2012, during the Obama-Romney election, he traveled around the country with outspoken former Republican figure Meghan McCain, daughter of late-Sen. John McCain, and the two collaborated on a book about their engagement with people.

"We both felt like, gosh, America can't get more divided than this. Well, that was naive on our parts," he said.

Black said he has little optimism about the direction of the country or the actions taken by the Trump administration already.

"We're in a very catastrophic way re-examing everything about the nation," he said. "There's a way to do that."

He is also a columnist for The Daily Beast and recently wrote a piece advocating for a constitutional convention as soon as possible.

"I do think we are long overdue for a constitutional convention," Black said. "I think it would be an excellent, excellent exercise for the nation to participate in and I think it could have potentially, very beneficial outcomes if people take it seriously."

Black is doing two shows Saturday at the Kenan Center in Lockport, coming at the request of Buffalo comedian Nicky Spin who will open in her hometown. He said he won't talk much about politics there because right now, he doesn't think it's very funny.

"Give me an Obama. Give me a Jimmy Carter. Give me a Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon was funny," Black said. "Trump, not so much."